Jon Jay has never gotten the credit he deserves despite being a very serviceable outfielder for his entire career. Again in 2018, Jay is hitting .307/.363/.374 on the season playing on another bargain contract. The Royals signed Jay this offseason for just $3 million. With Kansas City going nowhere fast with one of the worst records in baseball, the Royals shipped him to a contender for the remainder of the season. The Arizona Diamondbacks agreed to a trade with the Kansas City Royals to acquire Jon Jay for a pair of prospects.
The Diamondbacks were the first to report the transaction:
#Dbacks acquire OF Jon Jay from the Royals in exchange for LHP Gabe Speier and RHP Elvis Luciano.
Welcome to #GenerationDbacks, @jonjayU! pic.twitter.com/brWHUCCsQg
— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) June 7, 2018
The return for Jay doesn’t appear to be anything special on the surface. Luciano is the 26th ranked prospect in what is a weak D-Backs system. Speier isn’t ranked in the system. It seems to be a very smart move by the Arizona front office because Jay has been nothing but the model of consistency during his big league career. Jay has hit at least .291 and cashed in on an OBP of at least .339 in four of the past five seasons. Jay, 33, has played for the Cardinals, Padres, Cubs, and Royals during his major league career.
Jay gives the Diamondbacks a guy who can play every position in the outfield. He’s never been a guy that can hit for power but he’s an on-base guy that can fit practically anywhere in the order. Jay will likely get plugged right into the starting lineup with David Peralta and Jerrod Dyson. Star centerfielder, A.J. Pollack, is currently on the DL which looks like a lengthy stint via a wrist injury. Steven Souza has always been hurt basically all year. Jay fits in well on a team that strikes out 25 percent of the time because his 14.7 percent strikeout clip is a big improvement.
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